Arnulfo Arias

Arnulfo Arias Madrid (15 August 1901-10 August 1988) was President of Panama from 1 October 1940 to 9 October 1941 (succeeding Augusto Samuel Boyd and preceding Ernesto Jaen Guardia), from 24 November 1949 to 9 May 1951 (succeeding Roberto F. Chiari and preceding Alcibiades Arosemena), and from 1 to 11 October 1968 (succeeding Marco Aurelio Robles Mendez and preceding Jose Maria Pinilla Fabrega).

Biography
Arnulfo Arias was born in Penonome, Panama in 1901, the brother of President Harmodio Arias. He was educated in the United States before returning to Panama in 1925 and becoming involved in the nationalist movement. He led a coup against President Florencio Harmodio Arosemena in 1934, helping his brother rise to the presidency; both of them were strong admirers of Adolf Hitler and sought closer relations with Nazi Germany. In 1940, Arias was elected President for the first time as the Panamenista Party candidate. He carried out a nationalistic program which removed most of the Asian businessmen from the country and restricted the rights of the English-speaking Afro-Caribbeans in Panama. He had lasting support due to his nationalistic views and his oratorical powers, but he was removed from office a year after becoming president. In 1948, he lost the presidential race, but the military chief Jose Remon declared that Arias had been elected after all, and Arias returned to power until 1951. He jailed six former presidents, closed at least one newspaper, annd dissolved Congress, arousing the opposition. Jose Remon overthrew Arias in 1951, depriving him of his civil rights two weeks later; the National Assembly then revoked his right to be elected president. However, Arias still enjoyed the support of the humbler people of Panama City, and his civil rights were later restored. In 1964, the presidential election was rigged against him in support of Marco Aurelio Robles Mendez, but he won in 1968 by a large margin. His actions again made the civilians of Panama fear that the country would return to dictatorship, and the military feared that he would take their jobs. On 11 October 1968, the military - in alliance with the business elements in Panama City and the interior - again overthrew Arias just 10 days after assuming office. He went into exile before returning in 1984, but Manuel Noriega rigged the presidential race so that Nicolas Ardito Barletta defeated the 83-year-old Arias, who had attempted to return to power. Arias again went into exile in Miami, Florida, where he died in 1988.